The media has once again fixated on an insignificant anecdote to further their own perceptions rather than objectively report anything of consequence.
At a recent speech in New Hampshire, Ted Cruz—referencing foreign policy— asserted that “the world is on fire.” This caught the attention of a 3-year old girl, who asked the Senator if indeed that were the case. Cruz repeated the claim, explaining to the girl that good people in the world, such as her Mom, would make sure it becomes a better place.
Multiple media outlets have seized on the incident as an opportunity to trash Cruz for scaring a little girl. There’s just one problem: this isn’t what happened. As reported by Politico, the girl’s mother said that Cruz did not scare her daughter at all. Rather, the girl’s mother explained to her that she believes Cruz can put out the metaphorical fire, making the young girl happy. It appears that Raw Story didn’t get this memo, as they went with the headline: “Ted Cruz scares the hell out of a terrified little girl in New Hampshire.”
This type of spin is to be expected by biased media outlets.
However, this story is trivial in contrast with what actually scares people in America today: according to the National Debt Clock, the United States has a national debt of $18,159,647,909,749.78 as of March 16th. That equates to a burden of over $56,000 per citizen and over 100% of National Gross Domestic Product. To hear most Democrats in Washington tell it, the problem is that taxes aren’t high enough to cover our obligations. Yet raising taxes is not the solution. It will take substantial and serious reforms to national entitlement programs in combination with an overhaul of government spending priorities.
This issue is critical to the future because a ravaging national debt scares young individuals significantly more than the rhetorical flourishes of a junior senator from Texas scare liberal media outlets. After all, we’re the ones expected to pay it back.
I agree that focusing on these silly moments is ridiculous. Adds nothing to the national debate or our understanding of the issues. Glad Fox News never does that. (LOL) I don’t agree with Cruz on much but I am glad he has joined our NY Senators in calling for a solution to sexual assaults in the military (26,000 reported per year). This is one area that we all should be able to agree on. Unfortunately only 5 GOP senators support the Gillebrand bill. If you are not familiar with it, the bill would allow a man or woman in the military who claims they have been sexually abused to have an outside investigation. Right now they have to go through the “chain of command” which means if their abuser is their boss they have no where to go.
This seems to be one area where both parties should be able to agree. Yet, last year, the GOP refused to support the bill. Maybe that will change. I think Cruz should be congratulated for his support. of this bill.